Throw your arms around me
by thatswedishgirl
Summary: He just wanted to call her princess, just wanted her to be happy. What was so hard to understand about that? And why was there salt in his tea? Got the titel from the best lovesong ever. Enjoy the story, Rn'R!
1. Denial

Song: Throw your arms around me.

Chapter one: Denial

"**I will come for you at night-time... "**

It was late. Or early, depending on how you looked at it. It was a dark summer night, three in the morning and everyone seemed to be asleep. Neji got up from his bed and drew a deep sigh. He couldn't sleep, and it was all Hinatas fault.

He used his byakugan to check one more time if there was anybody awake in the house, but everybody was sleeping. He smiled joylessly to himself and started to walk towards Hinatas room. He just wanted to look at her. Just once, he told himself. He wouldn't stay. What if she'd wake up? Now that would be weird... and awkward.

He opened the door to her room and quietly stepped inside. He just looked at her. She was so beautiful in the silver moonlight that fell in through her window. Her pale face moved in her sleep, and her lips softly whispered something, but he couldn't hear what. Then he left for his room again, and fell asleep on his futon. Dreams of Hinata haunted his sleep.

The following morning Neji was quiet, that is, more than usual. Nobody really noticed. Hinata hurried to meet her team. Her father just sat reading the newspaper before he left for his office. Neji had a cup of tea, but he couldn't seem to get any food down. He just stared at it before he left to meet his team for training. He was late, but didn't really reflect on it. It wasn't like it was a habit. Though it might become one i he didn't straighten himself. He shook his head. This was not happening.

He arrived at the training grounds forty minutes late. They were quiet, looking at him with surprised faces. Gai cleared his throat.

"Oi Neji, I would like an excuse for this before we start our training." He looked serious, and slightly worried. He knew, just like the rest of them, that Neji _never_ was late. He took too much pride in always being first there, quietly of course. Like he always needed to be best, he always needed to be _first_. This just simply was not like him.

"I... I don't know... I must have walked slower than I thought... Gomen, Gai Sensei." They just kept staring at him. He felt so stupid. It was the lamest excuse ever... But it was the only reason he could think of. Gai just looked at him.

"Neji, how are you? Do you feel alright?" He looked worried. Neji shrugged.

"Nah, I'm fine. Can't we just start training?" He looked up to study the blue sky...

"Eh, sure. You train with me today. Tenten, you and Lee start. Neji and I will study your moves and try to help you improve them later... Start warming up, you have half an hour from now." Tenten and Lee nodded and started stretching. Neji went to sit down with Gai on the other side of the training grounds. He cleared his throat a couple of times, not quite knowing how to start.

"Um, Neji, so... what had you walking so slowly in the morning?" Neji shrugged.

"Well, nothing really, I just got lost in my thoughts that's all..." Gai looked at him with a face full of concern.

"Well, if you ever feel the need to share those thoughts with anyone, you know where I am. I can't have one of my students ..._unfocused_." He finished, looking at Neji carefully.

"I understand Sensei." He looked away at lee and Tenten who were taking their positions, waiting for their Sensei's command. Gai stood up.

"Let the match begin!"

After practise, Neji decided to go down to The Yōkai, one of his favourite bars in Konoha. It was rather small and quiet; a place one went when one needed to be alone. He sat down at the bar and ordered a double scotch. It burned his insides, slowly making him relax. He sighed and had another go at his drink. Hinata wouldn't leave his mind, no matter how hard he tried. When had she gotten there in the first place? He couldn't remember. It must have crept up on him slowly, slowly corrupting his mind. He shivered. She was his cousin, people would never understand. _She_ wouldn't understand. He needed another drink.

He paid the bartender five hours later and left, walking home. _Slowly_.

He got home a quarter past midnight. As he entered the house quietly, he switched the light in the ceiling on. Though, instead of filling the room with light, everything went darker. _How drunk am I?_ He thought to himself. Then he heard a sigh behind him and all of a sudden the light was on. _My eyes must be messing with me..._

"Hyuuga Neji, what do you mean by coming home this late?!" It was Hinatas father.

"Hmmm...??" Neji couldn't think of an answer that would satisfy the man, now in front of him. "I believe I'm drunk. I don't know."Hinata came into the kitchen, looking tiered. When she saw Neji lean on the wall next to him in an attempt to keep standing straight, she stopped in surprise. _He was drunk?_

"F-father, N-Neji, w-w-what's g-going on?" Her father looked at Neji, then at his daughter with hopeless eyes.

"He's drunk Hinata. On a bloody Tuesday. That's what's going on." Her eyes went wide in surprise. Again.

"N-N-Neji, wh-what's... gone i-into you?" Her face was twisted in concern.

"I'm fine, nothing's gone into me. You know Hinata, your eyes are..." He stopped himself. _I will SO NOT say that, no matter how drunk I am_. Hinata froze, her face going blood red. Her father dropped his chin.

"Neji." He said after collecting himself. "You should get to bed now. We shall talk about this tomorrow."

Hinata still couldn't move. Neji walked past her, and as he did, he whispered something so that only she could hear:

"..._very beautiful_" He'd said it anyways. _Shit!_

Hinata fell to her knees before and fainted before the rest of her body hit the floor. By then, Neji was already in his room, cursing himself.

He awoke the next day with a splitting headache. He checked his alarm-clock. 06.04. Well, he wasn't known for oversleeping. _Ever._

He walked down to the kitchen and drank a glass of water. He had to at least try to get rid of a bit of this hangover before training. Though a part of it would probably stay with him for a greater part of the day. He drank another glass and cursed himself quietly. Where was his self-control? Where was his dignity? Come to think of it... Where were most of his clothes? He was only in his boxers. _What the hell..._

He opened the door to go back to his room, but stopped dead. Hinata was in front of him. Her face turned red, then she simply turned around and buried her face in her hands. _Shit._

"I-I'm s-s-s-sorry... I-I-I-I-..." Her voice died out. His face went warm, blushing in embarrassment.

"I'm-I'm so sorry. I..." _Oh Kami, I've scarred her for life..._"Hinata, I... I'm going to go change... I'm sorry..."

He went back to his room. The headache was double, and he suspected that no glasses of water could make it better.

Hinata went into the kitchen and put the tea-kettle on. _What's up with him... He's not acting like himself... Walking around the house like that... Saying what he did yesterday... _Her thoughts were broken by her father entering the room_._ He looked tiered and accepted the teacup she reached him gratefully. He even smiled at her, which surprised her more than anything that had just happened.

"You know Hinata." He said, rubbing the dust out of his eyes. "You make tea the exact same way your mother always did." She froze, not believing her ears. Her dad never mentioned her mother, or spared Hinata any kind words either for that matter. He just kept on smiling. "It warms me all the way out in my fingertips. It's an art in itself."

She woke up and poured a cup for herself before she sat down. Her heart was beating with a force she didn't know that it had. She didn't blush, just sat there drinking her tea quietly. Neji entered the room and poured a cup for himself in silence. After the first sip his head cleared and he shivered. "This is really good tea Hina-chan."He heard himself say. She just looked at him, smiling.

"Thank you Neji." And for some very strange reason, her father smiled as well. He couldn't even recall the last time that had happened. _This is going to be one interesting day_, he thought.

"How do you feel Neji?" The older man asked him, searching his eyes in a strange way that made him slightly uncomfortable. His voice was merely a whisper when he answered.

"I'm fine, Hiashi-San." Hinata and Hiashi just stared at him, then resumed drinking their tea. Ten minutes later, Hiashi left, leaving Hinata and Neji alone. The silence was very uncomfortable. Then, all of a sudden, Hinata started to giggle. _Hinata giggled?_

"Un, Hinata-chan, what's so funny?" She started to laugh. He still didn't get it. She breathed heavily and stopped, though she kept her smile.

"Um, Neji-niisan, y- your boxers had pink hearts on them.." She started to uncontrollably giggle again. He blushed. _They're my favourite pair... _he looked away before he answered.

"What, what'd you expect?" This got her to stop. But instead of getting embarrassed, she just smiled at him, seemingly unbothered by the question.

"Well.." She said, searching her mind. "I guess regular black ones, or white. And cotton, not silky ones. You never seemed like a silky kind of person..." Now she blushed and looked away. "Um, I-I think... I should get g-going or I'll be late..." And back with the stutter was the same old shy, blushing Hinata. He looked away as well, his blush still there.

"I guess I should get going to... I was already late once this week..." _Crap, she didn't need to know that! _She looked at him. _He'd been late? _But she didn't ask why. She wasn't sure she wanted the answer just yet. _Yet? What was she thinking?_

"R-right, I might see you l-later then..." Was all she answered. He nodded before he left, unable to look back, afraid of what his eyes might or might not say.

"Neji, you're late again!"Gai shouted in surprise as he saw Neji walk down the hill towards the field they'd decided to meet up at yesterday.He couldn't believe it. Two days in a row. Neji was confused with himself. It simply wasn't like him.

"I- I'm sorry Sensei.. I swear, I left in time I..." His team-members just stared at him, the same thought going through their heads. _What was up with Neji? _He also saw Sakura, Kakashi, Sasuke and Naruto looking strangely at him. "What?!" It was all he could say, unable to comprehend what was going on.

"Well, it's just that..." Naruto started. "You're even later than Kakashi... and I was under the impression that you always were on time..." He stopped. The others nodded. "You're over an hour late Neji..."


	2. Remediation

Song: Throw your arms around me.

Chapter two: Remediation

**And I will raise you from your sleep...**

"Actually, it's closer to two..." Tenten filled in. Neji just shook his head and stared at the ground._ What the hell?_

"Um, yeah, thanks Tenten, but anyway, what's going on with you?" Naruto kept on. "Did something happen? Do you want to talk about it?" Neji shrugged.

"Really, I'm fine, I just keep losing track of time, nothing has happened..." He looked away.

"Right..." Gai spoke up. "Let's start training then. Lee, you train with Sakura, Naruto, you are sparring with me, Neji and Kakashi, Tenten work with Sasuke. Right, start warming up!"

The two teams often sparred with each other when they didn't have anything better to do. It was simply more fun to train if you didn't constantly have to train with the same people. Not that Neji would ever admit it. But then again, Neji never really said anything.

After training, Neji once again went to The Yōkai. He promised himself not to repeat what had happened the night before. It would just be to embarrassing. He left at a quarter past nine and started walking home again, also this time, _slowly_. And as he was walking down the street, he met Sasuke and Tenten. He knew that Tenten had beaten Sasuke today, but not how. Well, he 

knew that she was good, but he didn't think that she could beat Sasuke. Then again, maybe Sasuke let her win. And that could only mean...

"Hi Neji, what's up?" Tenten asked. Sasuke kept his face the same way he always did.

"Eh, nothing really, on my way home I guess." She smiled at him.

"This early? Stay out a while with us!" Neji looked away. Sasukes eyes blinked.

"No, I don't think I can, I got home much too late last night so I've got to show some good will for a while now..." She looked curious, and though Sasuke only raised one of his brows a little, Neji knew that he was surprised.

"Um, okay Neji, sure I understand... See you tomorrow at training then! Tell Hinata hi from me!"

"Sure I will... well, good night then." He took a small bow before he resumed to his walking. Had he said too much? The gravel crunched beneath his feet as he entered the garden at the back of his house. He had taken the back way to be able to enter the house without anybody realizing he was back home; he just wanted to be left alone. But then nothing ever turns out the way you want it to.

Hinata didn't notice him at first, and nearly jumped out of her skin when she realized he was there. He just looked at her with the strangest eyes she'd ever seen.

"...Eh, Hinata-chan, Tenten says for me to tell you Hi..." She seemed unable to move or answer. "Are you okay, Hinata-chan?" She shrugged.

"O-of course... T-tell her h-hi next time y-you see her..." She blushed and looked away. She looked so beautiful on the white rock where she was sitting having tea. So pure and clean, in her gray and white kimono, the silk glistening with her hair in the soft sunset light. She caught his gaze, and blushed even more.

"N-Neji-niisan, i-is there a-anything wrong?" He couldn't move.

"No Hinata-chan, there is nothing wrong at all... Well, goodnight then, sleep well." And so he left for his room, but before he reached the door he felt a hand on his arm and he stopped dead.

"N-Neji-niisan..." He didn't turn around, and he didn't say a word, but he stopped to listen, his body tense to its breaking point.

"N-Neji-niisan..." She said again, her voice but a whisper. "I... I..." His eyes widened. "I-I... Y-y-you have b-beautiful e-eyes to N-Neji..." She let him go and he turned around and looked at her. She was blushing furiously.

"Hinata-chan... I... I..." His voice nearly failed him. "I... Thank you Hinata-chan..." He said in a whisper. Then he turned around and went to his room, leaving a red-faced Hinata behind him. He shut the door behind him and sank to the floor with his back to the wall. _Did that just happen? _He couldn't believe it. A thousand thoughts were raging in his mind at the time, but he couldn't make sense of any of them, so he just undressed himself and went to bed.

He woke up and looked at his alarm-clocks luminescent numerals. 03.34 in the morning. _Damn. _His head was perfectly clear and he knew that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep again. He had dreamt about Hinata again. It was all he ever dreamt about. And he wanted to see her, right now, badly. But he would not go into her room again. He would not. He looked at his clock again. 03.46. _Damn. _Then his mind started playing tricks with him. He could have sworn that he could hear the door open. He closed his eyes and desperately tried to go back to sleep...

"Neji-niisan..." His eyes shot open and aimed their gaze at the door. He felt his pulse increase. _It was Hinata... Why?_

"Y-yes Hinata –chan?" He heard his voice tremble.

"Un, anou... Neji-n-niisan... I-I... had a b-bad d-dream..." He just looked at her, expecting a blush. But she didn't, she looked genuinely frightened, squeezing her blanket in her arms. "...C-can I s-stay with y-you tonight?" And then in a flash, everything was just the same way that it had been when they were kids. He gave her one of his rare smiles and scooted over on his futon, and she lay down quietly beside him, looking tiredly into his eyes.

"T-thank you nii-san..." He hugged her and held her close, not wanting to let her go, ever. But all he said was:

"So, what did you dream about?" His voice was soft, oh how she had missed that voice! And he only used it when she was scared like this...

"I... I dreamt t-that you were all dead... e-everybody...a-and someh-how it w-was all m-my fault... It w-was t-terrible..." He squeezed her a little and stroke her hair.

"It was only a dream Hina-hime... only a dream... were all fine... you could never kill us all, you wouldn't do that, I know it..." She pressed her face to his chest and breathed in the nice, safe scent of Neji. It had been years since she'd done it last, but it somehow felt like yesterday.

Neji gave a content little sigh as he took in her smell of sandalwood and magnolia, and it made him shiver slightly. He felt her breath going through his t-shirt, warming his skin.

"Neji-san, a-are you asleep yet?" _Her voice is so soft, like spring rain or a summer breeze or..._

"No Hina-hime, I'm still here." He felt her smile on his chest.

"Y-you know, you haven't c-called me that since w-we were kids..." She didn't move.

"Well, no I guess not..." He didn't know what to say. Then he felt her body move up over him, until her eyes met his. He felt himself quaver as she moved. "Hina-hime...?" She just smiled.


	3. Amber and Tears

Song: Throw your arms around me.

Chapter three: Amber and Tears

**God I will kiss you in four places...**

"Call... call me that again..." It took all her self-control not to stutter. His eyes widened in surprised, and she blushed a little, but _only_ a little, and she was very proud of it. He smiled at her, a bit teasingly.

"Anything you want... Hina-hime..."

And so she kissed him, carefully, gently, and very sweetly, and made Nejis heart melt. And he took her face in his hands and kissed her back, just as lovingly. When their kiss finally broke, he looked deep into her eyes, and spoke softly to her.

"You know, I think I'll start calling you that more often..." And so, _he _blushed. But Hinatas smile disappeared.

"You k-know Neji, I...I wish you could a-always call me that..." She sighed. And she knew why. People would wonder, and her father would get what was going on the first time he heard it.

"I know Hina-hime..." He kissed her again. "I wish I could do that to..." He felt a lump in his throat and a pain in his heart. _people would never understand..._

"Y-you know Neji, you c-could call me t-that when y-you're sure n-nobody hears y-you..." He smiled at her, perhaps a little more joylessly then before.

"I was already going to that you know..." She kissed him again, before they reset the alarm-clock to five. They knew better then to be caught in bed together. But though they didn't fall asleep, neither said a word. Not even when the alarm rang. They just kissed before they parted, and Neji came to realize just how big and empty his bed felt without her. The lump in his throat grew bigger, and he felt a single tear roll down his cheek. Neither of them slept any more that night.

Neji got up at five past six, and found Hinata making tea in the kitchen as usual. She looked at him with tiered, puffy, red eyes, but Neji guessed that it was more due to tears than a lack of sleep. He cursed himself inwardly. She had been crying because of him, what's more, he had not been there to comfort her.

"Here..." Her voice failed her as she reached to give him the teacup, and he accepted it with a nod. "I'll be going now, can't let father see me like this..." He just nodded again and looked away, heard the door shut behind him and starred at the teacup in his hand. Amber. He drank it quietly. _Salt? _He thought to himself. Then he closed his eyes. _Tears. _

The knot in his throat was about to untangle. The hole in his chest was consuming him mercilessly from the inside.

And so, he put his cup down carefully in the sink, then ran as fast as he could out into the forest until he was so far away that he thought that nobody could hear him, and then he let out a tremendous cry of pain that made the birds lift from the trees and the pebbles on the ground shake. Back in the village, people looked up at the sky and wondered if there was thunder, but the sky was clear and innocent and ever-blue.

Hinata was working the morning shift with Ino. Naruto and Sakura were there, both getting fixed up after their unusually bloody morning fight. Then she heard a distant, thundering sound, but she distinguished it as something else. It was Neji, she knew it, but she was the only one who did. The last question that was on her mind before she lost her consciousness was if he was okay.

Sakura, Ino and Naruto stared at with dumbstruck faces at Hinata as she fell to the floor. Ino shook her head in disbelief. Not even Hinata usually passed out like that.

"Oi, Sakura, help me to get her off the floor."She said after a couple of seconds, grabbing Hinatas Shoulders. Sakura took hold of Hinatas legs and helped Ino to put her on the white bench.

"What's with her?" Naruto asked, eyes wide like the rest of them.

"Well... I don't know." Both Ino and Sakura answered at the same time.

It took Hinata two hours to wake up, and she found herself in a room where everything around her was white. What had happened to her? It took her a couple of minutes, and then she remembered. _Neji had screamed..._ She looked at her watch. _Two hours!?_ She got up quickly and felt the nausea cling to her head, but didn't care. What if something had happed, was he here at the hospital? She needed to find him!

She dressed herself quickly and left for Tsunades office. She needed to know what had happened, was he alive? She knocked on the door and got a lazy "Yes?" for an answer before she stepped inside.

Tsunade, Kakashi, Sakura and Naruto stared at her as she stepped inside. Sakura dropped her jaw.

"You're awake?" The pink haired girl finally said.

"Obviously!" Hinata stated in an annoyed tone.

"You okay?" Naruto questioned.

"Yes I'M fine, but what about Neji!? Is he here?"

They all just stared baffled at her.

"Hinata, why on earth would Neji be here?" Tsunade looked just as confused as the others. Hinata was getting impatient.

"Well, quite OBVIOUSLY because he was screaming before, didn't you hear?! SOMETHING must have HAPPENED!!" Tsunade just kept on staring.

"When? Neji is training with Gai. He is fine. However, you passed out two hours ago for no reason when..." And when the realization hit her, Tsunades face completely changed. She started to grin like she was crazy.

"Oh so THAT'S what it was. I thought it was weird that it sounded like thunder when the sky was so clear..." The others just stared at her.

"THAT WAS NEJI?!"

Hinata just nodded her head. Tsunade looked at her in amazement.

"He's got quite the voice that kid! But no, he's fine, he's at the training grounds with Ga..." But Hinata didn't hear the rest Tsunade was about to say, because she was already out the door and long gone on her way to the training grounds.

Neji saw her coming towards him, but easily dodged the attack. Then he thought he saw... no he must be wrong... Ad with a loud 'bang' Neji fell to the ground. Tenten had beaten him, but he didn't even look her way. Hinata was standing on the wall above him, looking down at him. He slowly came back to his senses at the same time as the air returned to his lungs. _She was here? Why? _

"Hinata?" She stared at him, then jumped down from the wall to help him up, then hugged him tightly.

"I heard you scream! All the way up to the hospital! You scared the living hell out of me!" _She'd heard him? _

"Oh, I..." _Then everybody must have heard him... Shit!_ "Hina-hime..." He whispered to her, so that only she could hear him, and hugged her back. She was trembling. And for a second he forgot about the world, it didn't matter, everything he knew mattered was that he didn't want her to be scared anymore. Then he felt her brake away from him, letting him go, taking a step back... And for a second, he didn't know why the world was so unforgiving. Didn't it know how much it hurt to let her go?!

She started to cry, quiet tears, happy tears mixed with bitter ones for having to release him from her arms.

" I'm sorry..." She whispered softly, as if apologizing her existence.

"Hinata-chan..." He said, but it felt so wrong. She _was_ his princess. "How could you know it was me?" She simply stared at him, then added with a broken voice:

"How could I not?" Then she left. And it broke his heart. It hurt too much. It wasn't supposed to be this was. She wasn't supposed to leave. Ever. She belonged to him. She was his _Princess_. He looked around. Tenten, Lee and Gai stared at him.

"What?" He asked in a cold voice. Gai cleared his throat.

"Why did you scream, Neji? Everybody heard you." Neji chose to look away, but answered quietly:

"I... there was salt in my tea." It only seemed to make them more confused. He sighed.

"It was her... tears... in my tea... I... You wouldn't understand... I... I..." He fell to the ground on his knees, unable to deal with the pain that was bleeding into him. He wanted to scream again, but wouldn't let himself. Angry tears fell on the ground in front of him.

Tenten and Lee ran after Hinata, and Gai quietly sat down in front of Neji. Neji just kept crying, unable to look at his Sensei. He heard Gai give out a low sigh.

"Neji, don't do this to yourself. Tell me, and I will try to do my best to help you. If there is nothing I can do, tell me for your own sake so you don't have to carry it around on your own. You know there's hardly anything I can't take. Trust me." Neji looked up at him, his silvery eyes were glistening but his face looked tiered and empty when he answered the older man.

"It's just that Sensei, I'm not carrying it all on my own. Hinata does to. And I know how it hurts her, because it hurts me the same way..." And then he went completely quiet. Tsunade and Kakashi were there, staring down at him from up on the wall, completely gobsmacked. Kakashi dropped his jaw. Tsunade just let a soft "Wow" escape her lips. Neji wanted to run again, but didn't. He knew there was no point. He wished that he could faint like Hinata had done, but he had never fallen unconscious before outside of battle, and it didn't feel like he was about to start now.

"Shit." The voice of Sasuke broke the silence, and everybody jumped. Sasuke just smiled, before he continued on, as unbothered as ever.

"You know Neji, I was going to ask her to be my date for the autumn-festival, guess I'm kind of screwed now, ey?" Everybody stared at him, but he just kept on, dropped down from the wall to walk up to Neji and go on. "Well, I guess I could lose her to you. You REALLY seem to like each other and all that." He reached an arm out and Neji took it and stood on his feet, drying his tears out of his face. He couldn't think of anything to say. Sasuke smiled. _Sasuke smiled?_

"You know Neji, what I really like about her is her eyes, so if you know anybody else who's got anything like them, why don't you introduce us?" Nejis face got the shadow of a smile on it.

"I know a couple alright.." Everyone else just looked stunned. _What the hell had just happened?_

"Well, I am afraid I have some business to attend to... if you excuse me of course?" He said politely to the still grinning Uchiha, who just nodded. He looked around, with an expression showing endless determination. _Nothing or No one_ could stop him now. And nobody tried. Kakashi still hadn't picker his jaw up, but Tsunade and Gai nodded at him. Neji nodded back, silently thanking them for not making this any harder then it already was.

And with that, Neji was off to find his princess.

**It's not over yet, BELIEVE IT!!**


	4. To face the King

Chapter four: To face the king. 

...**as I go running up your street**

**And I will squeeze the life out of you**

**And you will make me laugh and make me cry...**

**...and we may never forget it;**

**You will make ne call your name, and I'll shout it to the blue summer-sky...**

Neji ran, calling her name for everyone to hear. Then he made an abrupt stop when he saw them. Tenten was holding a crying Hinata against her shoulder, slowly whispering soft words of comfort.

When she saw Neji, Tenten whispered something to Hinata who looked up at him. And from beneath all the tears, Neji saw a soft smile. Then he walked up to her and embraced her for everybody to see. He felt her sobs tone out, and how she clung her hands to his shirt, as if afraid that he would let her go. He closed his eyes and before he softly spoke. "Hina-hime, everything will be alright, I promise. I'll never let you go again."

And people around them stared. Some with glee, some with the evil eye, some with approval and some simply knocked for six. But Neji and Hinata didn't see. They just stood there and refused to recognize the existence of the world around them. At least until the voice of a certain person whisper in their ear. The king himself. Being the father of a princess usually made you king, at least that's how Neji reasoned.

"_And what, may I ask, are you doing?_" His voice was sweet as honey, and Neji knew it meant trouble. But he wasn't about to stand down now.

"_I'm holding on to something that is dearer than life to me. And I intend to marry him. Just you try and stop me._" Hinata had spoken before him. Everyone looked at her, Hiashis face in shock.

"How _DARE _You?! Do you even realize what you are saying? Do you know what will happen now?!" She met his eyes with cold determination.

"Yes." She said simply. "You will try to kill me." His eyes were wide and his breath heavy with anger. Yet she just continued, seemingly unbothered. "But if you do try, I think you will fail. I am stronger than you now. I always acted weak around you so that you would leave me alone. If I would have shown you, you would have taken me out of my training as a ninja and just let me be home and start handling the clan's matters. And I really didn't want to do that... I didn't want to turn out like you, not in a million years... I know what you are like, and if I turned out like that I would not be able to stand myself." She felt Nejis hand around her own. She felt people's eyes on her but didn't care. She'd had enough of everybody. She'd had enough of everything. She just wanted to be free. Neji breathed heavily. Her father just stared. _She would kill him if she had to. He'd never control her again. _

Hiashi didn't waste any more time arguing with his daughter. He knew what she was like. He knew just how strong she was. He knew he'd die if he fought her, and he already had a plan. After all, there'd been a reason to why he hadn't pulled her out of her training. He wanted to change the Hyuuga just as much as she did. They hadn't seriously thought that they'd beable to hide anything from him, did they? He'd seen it all with his byakugan. He'd known they were in love before they did, though Neji seemed to have realized it first. He had snuck up just to watch her in the middle of the night after all.

But naturally, he couldn't let the rest of the council know what he knew. It would have ruined everything. Everybody knew that, as a ninja, the most important matter was to have the element of surprise on your side. That went for so much more than just in battle, though.

He was so proud of his daughter, and it pained him so, especially now, that he could not tell her. Not until this battle was over and they would heal their wounds together. It was the only way.

He glared at them, eyes burning, spilling a hatred he did not feel. He thanked Ibiki for the lessons. He owed that man big time. Hinata didn't back down, and Hiashi knew that she'd kill him if she had to, he could feel it. Neji mean the world to her, and he couldn't be happier for her. But when he spoke, he showed a different emotion.

"Hinata, Neji, you will come with me right now. No arguing, just come." They stared shocked at him. He wasn't going to fight her? Was he afraid? No, Hiashi was never afraid, everybody knew it. So what was this?

"We shall meet with the council about this. Now come!" Hiashi started walking, and they slowly followed. It was all so strange.

**I know it's short and all, but I guess it's better than nothing. Whenever I have more time I'll write more. I apologize for having so many stories to work on at once, but really, that's just me I guess. Please review, thank you.**


	5. The Hydra

**Thank you kind reviewers! This chapter is here beause I promised Snowbird66 so, enjoy!**

**"... And we may never meet again**

**So shed your skin and let's get started**

**And you may throw**

**Your arms around me..."**

They had walked there is silence, Hiashi first, Hinata and Neji behind him, holding hands. There was no turning back. There were no adequate excuses for their behaviour. In Hinatas own mind, it was slaughter-time, but she'd put up a fight if it would kill her.

Neji stared at Hiashi in front of him. What was he up to? According to the rules, if a branch-member and a main family member 'got together', he had all the rights to activate the seal. Why hadn't he? Why was he taking it to the Hyuuga-council? Perhaps there was a worse fait. Or perhaps... Neji shook his head at his thoughts. It was all so weird.

After they had walked into Hiashis office, they sat themselves on the chairs in front of his desk and waited for him to speak. But he didn't, just sent a few servants to assemble the council in the main hall. It would be a great show, no doubt. Hiashi shook his head at them, but that was all.

When the servant returned and told them that it was all set up, Hiashi walked before them into the silent room. Hinata looked around the room. Beside the regular members, Nejis mother was there, looking terrified. This made Nejis gut curl itself into a tight knot. He'd forgotten she'd be there. And yet, he was glad she was there. In a strange way, she'd be proud of him, he knew it. Just like his father.

"So, Hiashi, mind explaining the situation?" An elderly woman said, glancing at the two teenagers. Hiashi nodded once and cleared his throat.

"It is a violation against rule thirteen of the fourth scroll. Hinata and Neji." There came a gasping silence as everyone had their breath taken out of them. The elderly woman stared at him.

"Such relations between the main and the branch?! Outrageous! Your children are a disgrace!" Her face was an alarming colour of purple, as she still had not remembered to breathe.

"My son is no disgrace! How _dare_ you?!" Nejis mother screamed into the room, causing yet another stunned silence. Hiashi cleared his throat again.

"We all know the punishment, but as you see, I have chosen not to." The council-members stared quizzically at him.

"We see that." An old man hissed. "Might you tell us what shall be done now?" He glared at the two youngsters. "Pray, you will not break the clans own laws, will you?" He asked with slight mock in his tone. Hiashi glared back at him.

"Watch your tongue." Hiashi whispered threateningly. "I know the laws. Better than you, might I add? That is why I am going to lay out a Teian, (proposition), about a complete rewrite of the fourth scroll."

The room broke out into a terrible ruckus, some people cheering, and some definitely _not_ as positive. Hinata just stared at Neji as she heard her father speak. Had he really said that? Hinata took hold of Nejis hand again. _Don't let go..._

When everything had calmed down a bit, Hiashi took to order again.

"I take it the council is in disagreement with my proposition. But I tell you this, that I am putting this matter on the Fifth Level of Importance." The noise and cursing returned ten-fold, and Hinata grabbed hold of Neji with both of her hands. Fifth level meant possible death for her father, or whoever decided to stand up against him. It hadn't been used for the last three generations. She looked up at Neji who looked back before he drew her close. Her father was a strange man. She had been sure she'd had to fight him, yet here he was, _helping_ her. Helping _Them_.

"You two let go of each other! Disgusting! Filthy!" It was the old man from the council again.

"Don't you call him that or I'll kill you myself!" Nejis mother screamed at him and started forming strange hand-seals that Hinata didn't recognize. But Hiashi stopped her before she could complete them all.

"Mika let me handle this." He said calmly to her. She nodded slightly, looking up at him with eyes that made Nejis insides rip.

"Neji, it will be fine." Hinata stated in the same calm way that Hiashi had just stated his mother. He looked at her again, and realized she was right. As long as he was with her, it would be. No matter what happened.

Once again, the commotion settled, and Hiashi sighed before he spoke again.

"I announce the time and place to oppose me for tomorrow. Eight am in the third training-hall. That will be all." And so, he exited the room with Neji, Hinata, and Mika.

**I know it's short, again, but I'm so inspired to write on my other stories at the moment, I'm sorry! However, I shall make it up to you when the big inspiration-stick hits me across the head again.**

**Please review, it's nice to do so. And thank you all who have reviewed so far! I love you, take care, and check out my poem Serenade by Neji for Hinata, if it seems appealing. **

**Xxx/Me! **


End file.
